- O J Si
'Pop cop' on patrol
in Love Library stacks
Arts and Entertainment, page 18
IMU volleyball team goe
to finals, loses in 4 set
s
Sports, page 16
December 16, 1986
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 85 No. 77
3
IS
gents TbraMet cunts to esine! d.
asses
By Diana Johnson
Staff Reporter
As many as 70 second semester class
sections could close because of budget
cuts passed by the NU Board of Regents
on Saturday.
The regents approved a $3.3 million
mid-year budget cut mandated by the
Legislature.
NU Regent Kermit Hansen of Elk
horn said approval of the budget reduc
tions could inhibit students' ability to
get classes needed for their majors.
That could also delay their graduation
date.
Hansen said 100 class sections might
be closed at UNO.
Sections in high-demand areas that
may be affected by the budget cut
include criminal justice, computer sci
ence and the College of Business Ad
ministration classes.
Students who preregistered for class
es will be notified of closed sections by
mail during winter break, said Joe
Rowson, NU public information dir
ector. Priority will be given to graduating
seniors, he said.
Real work in July
Hansen said he wanted to remind
regents that the reduction is "only a
stop-gap mid-year approach."
The real work will begin in July,
when regents begin planning the 1986
87 budget, Hansen said. Budget reduc
tions will be made on a more perman
ent basis," then, he said.
However, NU Vice President for Ad
ministration Alan Seagren said, "Let's
not kid ourselves. For every dollar
taken from the university budget, there
is going to be some impact over several
years.
The bulk of reductions will come
from personnel reductions amounting,
to about $1.5 million.
Cuts at all three campuses include
$742,867 in equipment and $170,697 in
building repairs and maintenance. UNO
will lose $35,503 in library acquisi
tions. Other cuts affecting all three cam
puses include $562,454 in operation
expenses and $250,000 in utilities sav
ings, which might call for colder class
room temperatures, and more . than
$41,000 in veterinary medicine and
optometry contracts with other states!
Regent Robert Simmons of Scotts
bluff was the only regent who voted
against the budget reductions prop
osal. Simmons said he thinks the regents
made a mistake by approving the pro
posed reductions.
Seagren said he thinks the proposed
reduction could be handled differently.
"It is poor policy to leave things in
the arbitrary, unrealistic fashion that
the Legislature left us in," Seagren
said.
Seagren said he knows finding pla
ces to make cuts "was not easy."
Possible areas for reduction in next
year's budget include closing the School
for Technical Agriculture at Curtis,
cuts in county extension agencies, and
additional faculty cuts, regents said.
In other matters, regents approved a
$121,499 bid from Deb's Construction of
Iowa City, Iowa, for the demolition of
the existing structures on the site of
the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
In other business concerning the
Lied Center, the NU Foundation an
nounced Saturday it has received a $1
million gift from the Woods Charitable
Fund Inc. of Lincoln and Chicago.
New computer system
Regents also approved the purchase
of an IBM computer system for UNL
that will not exceed a total of $1.25
million.
Regents authorized the university
administration to develop a proposed
agreement with Kansas State Univer
sity for veterinary medical education.
The proposal will let UNL veterinary
students attend school at Kansas State
but pay in-state Nebraska tuition.
The regents also extended the con
tracts for UNL Athletic Director Bob
Devaney and Nebraska football coach
Tom Osborne. Devaney's contract was
approved for one year and Osborne's
was extended for five years.
55, older
DN poll: 56 disagree
with legislative decision
By Todd von Kampen
Senior Reporter
Most Nebraskans surveyed in a statewide
Daily Nebraskan poll said they think the Legisla
ture was wrong to reduce state support for NU.
Fifty-six percent of those polled said they
opposed the 2 percent cut in NU's 1985-86
budget, which was passed during the Legisla
ture's recent special session. Twenty-one per
cent said they supported the cut, while 16 per
cent had no opinion.
The Daily Nebraskan questioned 289 people
across the state Nov. 19 to 21. Poll results were
compiled with the help of Dave Johnson, director
of UNL's Bureau of Sociological Research and
Gerald Kutish, statistical consultant at UNL's
Computing Resource Center.
Those people closest to college age were less
likely to support the cut, while those over 55
mostly supported it. Only 10 percent of those in
the 25-to-29 and 30-to-34 age groups supported
the cut, while 32 percent of people 60 and older
supported the Legislature's action.
People from Nebraska's 2nd Congressional
District, which includes UNO and UNMC, op
posed the cuts by a 68 percent margin. Nineteen
percent supported the cuts.
Fifty-seven percent of those polled in the 1st
District, which includes UNL, opposed the cuts,
while 43 percent of 3rd District residents op
posed them.
Opposition to the budget cuts also was
stronger among people who attended NU, had
relatives attending NU or planned to send their
children to NU. Sixty-seven percent of present or
former NU students opposed the cuts, while 54
percent of non-alumni also opposed them. Sixty
two percent of those polled with relatives at the
university did not support the cuts, as opposed
to 49 percent of those with no family members at
NU.
The poll found that 64 percent of the people
polled would consent to a tax increase if they
money were earmarked to improve NU's quality.
Twenty-eight percent opposed a tax increase.
The poll results showed that support for a tax
increase to improve NU's quality ran between 64
and 79 percent among those in the 20-to-34 age
bracket. But support was weakest in the 45-to-49
age bracket
Percent
cm YES
NO OPINION
80
75-70-65-60-55-50-45-40'-35-30-25-20-15-10-5-0-
1
I
MJ BMSet Foil
I
J.
Pi
I
H
A B C
A Are you aware of the present financial condition of the University of
Nebraska?
B Are you aware of the Legislature's recent 2 percent cut from the
University budget?
C Do you support the 2 percent cut?
D E F
D Do you agree that Nebraska youths are considering attending out of
state schools to get a better education.
E Do you agree with Gov. Bob Kerrey when he said the university is
overdramatizing its plight?
F Would you give more of your tax dollars to improve the quality of the
university?
Those polled were asked two questions
designed to measure the belief that Nebraska
and NU suffer from a "brain drain" of their best
students to other states. The questions were:
"Do you agree that Nebraska's youth are consid
ering attending out-of-state schools to get a bet
ter education?" and "Do you agree that if
Nebraska's top students attend out-of-state
schools, then NU's general educational level will
decline?"
Sixty-three percent of those polled agreed
that NU's educational level would suffer from an
exodus of Nebraska students to other states.
Thirty percent said it wouldn't.
Forty-four percent disagreed that Nebraska
students are looking to out-of-state schools for a
Kurt EbtrhardtDally Nebraskan
better education, while only 33 percent agreed.
The poll found that a high percentage of
Nebraskans are aware of NU's financial condi
tion and the Legislature's decision to cut NU's
budget. Sixty-three percent knew of NU's finan
cial situation, and 77 percent had heard about
the budget cut.
Please see POLL on 1 1
